There are situations in which it is desirable to initiate a change in the target material particularly in remote locations such as inside an oil or gas well. The change may be a change to one or more of temperature, structure, position, composition, phase, physical properties and/or condition of the target or any other characteristic of the target.
A typical situation may be to sever a tubular in a well, clean a downhole device or tubulars, initiate a downhole tool or remove an obstruction.
Conventional tools perform these operations with varying degrees of success but generally they are not particularly efficient and make such operations expensive and time consuming. They may additionally have associated ancillary equipment that is cumbersome or may attract stricter logistical or regulatory controls.